National Grid's controversial Lincolnshire pylons project to be debated this week in House of Commons

                                              

Saying it as he sees it - anti-pylons MP Matt Warman

CONTROVERSIAL plans to erect scores of pylons along a 87-mile route from Grimsby to North Norfolk will come under the spotlight in Parliament later this week.

The so-called Great Grid Upgrade is proposed to be the largest expansion  of Britain's  electricity grid since the 1950s.

It aims to improve and build more of the infrastructure needed to meet the UK’s expanding energy needs as well as increased output of energy from offshore windfarms.

During an afternoon debate in the Commons on  Thursday May 2, backbenchers will scrutinise the issues.

The debate has been secured by Boston and Skegness MP Matt Warman who says: "I am highly concerned that, at a time when pylons elsewhere in the country are being removed, residents in Lincolnshire are not being offered more than the one option  in National Grid’s narrow public consultation.

"It is clear that, not just my own constituents in Boston and Skegness, but also residents from neighbouring constituencies in Lincolnshire and the East of England, are opposed to strings of pylons polluting the rural and unspoilt parts of our county. 

"The future needs of the grid would be better served by a different approach.

"I have been making the case to ministers that, whilst National Grid is rightly burying cables underground in parts of the country such as Dorset, we shouldn’t be putting them up in Lincolnshire. 

"Ultimately, it is vital that other options are given greater consideration. Pylons should not seen as the default.

"I look forward to having the opportunity to raise this important matter in Parliament later this week."

Mr Warman has formally objected to the proposal, citing the potential threat it poses to food security by taking large amounts of agricultural land out of production, the potential negative impact it will have on Lincolnshire’s nature-based tourism and the visual impact it will have on Lincolnshire’s flat landscape.

Fellow Lincolnshire MPs Victoria Atkins and Sir John Hayes, as well as Lincolnshire County Council, and Police and Crime Commissioner, Marc Jones, have all also formally objected to the proposal.

Their schedules permitting, it is thought that Cleethorpes MP Martin Vickers and Grimsby MP Lia Nici might also seek to contribute to the debate.

                                     

The proposed route of the pylons